2018-09-16T08:00:00-05:00
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
There is a tragedy in Shiloh – a moral, spiritual mess – which was instigated by two men: Hophni and Phinehas. These were not just any two men, they were priests of God. They were supposed to represent the living God to the people of Israel, and instead they were villains. Their ill behavior was a public spectacle: Hophni and Phinehas were taking their cut of the liturgical sacrifice out of order, and they were taking more than they should (vv.12-16). Not only were they pilfering what was supposed to be the Lord’s, they had become sexual deviants with the women who entered the temple to worship (v. 22). These men who were to be holy had indulged themselves in hedonism.
The lifestyles of Hophni and Phinehas were in direct contempt for the God they were supposed to love, serve, and worship. The text makes it clear that both men did not even know God. Their atheism, their misrepresentation of God, sent the priesthood into an immoral abyss. And Eli’s passivity to his sons’ activity brought judgment on Eli and his household. The men deserved God’s judgment, they had misrepresented God.
This story should cause us to pause and evaluate our own representation of God. Where have we misrepresented Him? As we were reminded, misrepresenting God is blasphemy. And at the root of every sin is blasphemy. This deserves condemnation. Such an assessment should not send us spiraling into the depths of despair thinking there is no way out. Nor should we attempt to ascend to the summit of self-righteousness, for we are not as pious as we truly are. Such reflection should lead us to the Cross.
The story ends with God raising up a faithful priest. While wicked Hophni and Phinehas are busying destroying the priesthood, God is making preparation to restore it. In His judgment, God also dispenses mercy. We see the Lord’s justice and provision in Samuel. Samuel would be a forerunner to the true and faithful Priest, Jesus. A Faithful Priest who will advocate for His people. In this knowledge, we can turn and worship God for all He has and continues to do for us.
In his book, The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer summarizes our text so well. He writes,
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.
For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.
We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God.”